You are not your thoughts.
Thoughts come and go.
And actually different versions of you come and go.
In that anything that you might call you is actually thoughts.
But there's something more persistent about you than thoughts.
And that's whatever it is that observes your thoughts,
Creates your thoughts.
There are two ways of looking at how thinking works.
One is that you really have no choice about it.
Thoughts arise due to some stimulus,
Either inside or outside of yourself.
And before you know it you're thinking something.
Another way of thinking about it is that actually you don't think something unless there's some kind of payoff.
Unless there's some kind of reason for you to think it.
Now that might seem strange if you're dealing with intrusive thoughts.
My suspicion is that you'd rather not think them.
We all know what that's like.
The question is can we find a way to deal with this?
Can we find a way to begin to influence our thinking?
My guess is that none of us really hate what's going on in the mind all of the time.
At least some of the time we're happy.
So we can set up a game for ourselves to simply get to more of that more of the time.
And it requires a certain attitude.
It requires the attitude of someone who's winning a game.
Perhaps some legendary sports figure like Michael Jordan.
Michael Jordan comes to mind because he was a winner.
Top athletes have such belief in themselves.
We see these extraordinary comebacks in the last moments of important sporting events.
These comebacks wouldn't be possible unless these athletes believed that they could win.
We need to believe that we can win this game.
We can prove to ourselves that we can win this game.
By simply taking a deep breath whenever we remember.
Putting our attention on that.
Enjoying what's pleasant about that.
Being that it's going on right now.
It brings us out of this intrusive thinking.
That appears perhaps to be going on a lot of the time.
Plenty of people have plenty to worry about.
But worry is the least useful of all mental activities.
If we would just stop worrying about the things that we're worrying about.
We might be able to take care of them.
We would certainly be more effective in choosing a way forward.
Than in executing that way forward.
But with worry at every step of the way.
We're crippled.
Absolutely crippled.
Worry will thwart us at every step of any plan.
It simply isn't useful.
I remember when I figured out the difference between worry and skepticism.
Worry is something that comes up out of the reptile brain.
Worry is something that we've been doing for millions of years.
And it's based in the self-preservation instinct.
Skepticism is a much higher function.
Skepticism involves reasoning.
Skepticism is going on in that prefrontal cortex.
Lizards and apes are not capable of skepticism.
So we can keep our skepticism.
But in making that distinction we can drop worry.
When we see worry we choose to do something else instead.
We take a deep breath.
We enjoy that deep breath and we enjoy the win.
We enjoy that successful moment of choosing what's going on in the mind.
If we do this right it can become such a rush of victory.
We actually start to want to do it.
We start to want to engage in this game of looking at the mind and seeing what it's doing.
Saying,
Ah,
Ah,
Another point for me.
And once we're hooked it's really game over for those intrusive thoughts.
They may continue to come up.
They may come up in the very next moment.
You enjoy one success,
Next moment up comes that worry again.
Same procedure.
Nice deep breath.
Or if you don't want to be breathing so deep that your shoulders are rising and falling all day every day,
A normal breath will do.
Whatever works for bringing yourself into the present moment where those worries cannot exist.
We have to be fabricating past or future in order for there to be worry.
When we're in the present moment what are we going to worry about?
We might find ourselves in dire circumstances.
Still worry is ineffective.
Still worry is only going to get in our way.
Find yourself in a gunfight.
Okay,
What am I going to do?
Worry or make a plan?
Worry or escape somehow?
Worry is never a good idea.
Intrusive thoughts that come out of the reptile brain are never a good idea,
They're never helpful.
So we can use mindfulness practice to choose something else in every moment.
We keep that attitude of winning this fun game.
We see the mind.
We choose something else.
And we celebrate our success.
As we do this we develop it as a skill.
And as we develop that skill,
Each time it becomes easier.
Do enjoy this practice.
And please let me know how you get on.
